


we've come a long way

by matildajones



Series: Tumblr Fics [13]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Kisses, M/M, Mentions of Stalking, Reunions, Warning: Kate Argent, Witness Protection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7811638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matildajones/pseuds/matildajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“You left!” Stiles says. “Without saying goodbye, without, without anything.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I know,” Derek says, “I know.” He takes a step closer.</i>
</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>A witness protection program AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we've come a long way

Stiles opens the bar door and steps out of the rain and into the warmth. He’s dripping water all over the ground, shivering, and he scans the room for a payphone. Stiles sighs in relief and walks over, the background chatter of the bar filling his ears.

“Phone over there is broken,” the bartender calls out. Stiles grits his teeth together. He’s been driving for hours, and he has no idea what town he is even in.

“Yeah, thanks,” he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He finds his wallet and thinks he has enough cash for one beer. He’s tired and wet and cold. His shirt is sticking to him and when he walks towards the bar his shoes squeak against the floor.

He sees a girl laugh and throw back her head, brown hair down to her shoulders. She has a mole under her right eye and Stiles stops moving. His heart starts to thud and he thinks he’s going crazy, thinks he’s seeing things because the girl looks exactly like Laura Hale.

Stiles stares at her, and six years have gone by but it can’t be anyone else. It just can’t. The bartender is asking if he’s alright and he doesn’t say anything because he’s not. He’s tired and wet, and now Stiles thinks he’s hallucinating.

Then the girl turns her head, smile still on her face. Stiles’ fingers are shaking from the cold and from his shock, and then, then the girl’s smile fades. Her eyes widen with panicked recognition and Stiles knows. That is definitely Laura Hale.

But he still can’t move. Here are the answers he’s been begging, needing for years and Stiles can’t move his damn feet.

“Laura,” he whispers, but his voice is hoarse and the music and chatter of the bar stops anyone from hearing him.

Laura swallows, and her hands are shaking. She doesn’t look happy to see Stiles, and Stiles feels his heart break. He’s as good as a stranger, no one, nothing.

Laura’s eyes flit to the man at the end of the bar talking to one of his friends. Stiles doesn’t miss the involuntary movement and he glances there.

“Oh god,” he hears Laura say.

Stiles looks at the man and his heart breaks. He lets out a choked out sound, stumbling closer but still not making it very far.

It’s Derek.

He’s not sure for a moment, thick stubble all along his jaw and his body shows off impressive muscles. He’s not lean like he used to be, not the boy Stiles knew, but a man. A gorgeous man and Stiles has missed him more than anything.

He can’t stop staring. He can’t stop looking at his quiet, beautiful smile that somehow looks the same. Stiles thanks the fucking heavens he got lost and made his way here. It’s been six fucking years since Derek’s family left. Six years and now he gets Laura and Derek Hale all in one go.

Then someone’s grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the bar. Stiles shakes them off, shakes them and yells until he sees Laura’s face.

“Laura,” Stiles breathes.

“You can’t be here,” she says, eyes scanning the space around them. All they can see is rain, and at least here they’re sheltered a little. “How did you find us?”

“What do you mean?” Stiles says, trying to turn back towards the door. He’s happy to see Laura, ecstatic even, but Derek is inside and he knows in this moment that he still loves Derek, he’s never stopped loving Derek.

Laura grabs his arm again. Her grip is forceful.

“What the hell?” Stiles yells.

“You can’t go in there!”

“Let me see him,” Stiles says, trying to get back inside. “Fuck, Laura, please. Let me go in there.”

Laura shakes his head. Stiles finally looks at her again and her lips are quivering. There are tears in her eyes, and she stares at Stiles like he’s a ghost. None of this makes any sense, none of it, from the day the Hales left to this very moment.

“Stiles,” she says desperately. “What are you doing here?”

Stiles bites his lip. He doesn’t know. He’s almost forgotten the whole drive, his head spinning in circles. He’s not sure that Laura’s even real.

Laura hasn’t dropped his arm. Her fingernails are sharp through Stiles’ shirt.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles asks her, angry and confused. He wants to see Derek.

She doesn’t know how to answer, swallowing hard.

Then the bar door opens and Laura almost sobs, letting go of Stiles’ arm.

“Laura?” Derek says, frowning when he sees her tears. Stiles can’t get over how beautiful he is. Derek’s nostrils flare and he turns towards the man who made his sister cry, he turns towards Stiles.

Stiles feels hot and cold and shaky all at once. He’s _dreamed_ of this moment, dreamed of it when he’s been weak and missing Derek too much. And now Derek’s in front of him, his mouth going slack and his eyes bright with shock.

“Stiles?” he says.

Stiles nods. He takes a step forward, but that’s all he can do. Derek looks so _different_ , but still the same. His eyebrows are still thick and his lips are still thin. His eyes are exactly the same. Stiles’ lip quivers, and he feels a hot tear trickle out of his eye.

“Laura, go inside,” Derek says.

“Derek.”

“Please,” he says, turning to her. “Please.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” she says, and heads back inside.

And then Stiles and Derek are alone after six years. Stiles doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know what to say.

Derek’s hand reaches out, palm hovering by Stiles’ face. Stiles wants to slip into his touch, but he suddenly remembers the heartbreak and the pain he felt when he was eighteen. He steps to the side, swallowing over the lump in his throat.

Derek looks at the ground, disappointed.

“You left,” Stiles says, and the tears spill.

“Stiles.”

“You left!” Stiles says, louder. “Without saying goodbye, without, without _anything_.”

“I know,” Derek says, “I know.” He takes a step closer.

Stiles wants to run, Stiles wants to go away and leave Derek in the past. But he doesn’t, instead he flings himself against Derek’s body hoping he’ll be caught. Stiles feels pathetic and stupid, and he shouldn’t be so affected so many years later, but Derek’s warm arms come around him and Stiles just sags.

“Stiles,” Derek says, voice hoarse, nose against Stiles’ hair. Stiles feels him breathe in and it’s shaky. Stiles rubs his face against Derek’s shirt, feeling safe all of a sudden, feeling something loosen inside of him. He breathes Derek in and Stiles swears he smells the same.

“You were just gone,” Stiles says, and Derek’s arms tighten around him.

“I missed you so much,” Derek says. “I wanted to call, I wanted to see you, I promise.”

“Why didn’t you?” Stiles says, lifting his head. Their faces are close, but neither of them steps away from the other. Derek’s touch feels so nice.

Derek sighs, and this time when he lifts his palm to Stiles’ cheek Stiles doesn’t move away. He closes his eyes and relaxes into Derek’s touch. “I can’t explain here,” Derek says, thumb stroking just under Stiles’ eye.

Stiles bites his lip. “Derek.”

“Did you try and find me just now?” Derek asks.

Stiles shakes his head. “No – no, I have no idea where I am. I got lost,” he admits. And that, for some reason, makes Derek relax a little.

“It’s so good to see you,” Derek whispers.

“I’m still mad at you,” Stiles says, fingers clutching at Derek’s shirt. “So mad.”

“I know,” Derek says. He pauses. “You’re cold.”

Stiles nods. He realizes that he’s shivering, from the cold and the shock.

Derek kisses his forehead suddenly. Stiles whimpers at the touch, struggling to handle the affection, the fact Derek is clearly happy to see him even if Laura wasn’t. “Stay here,” he says. “Don’t talk to anyone, okay?”

Stiles frowns. “What?”

“I – I trust you,” Derek says seriously. Something warm starts up in Stiles’ chest. They haven’t seen each other in years and Derek still trusts him. “Don’t talk to anyone. Stay here. I’ll be two minutes; I need to talk to Laura.”

Stiles stares at him. He nods. When Derek moves away he feels deadly cold, and he stuffs his hands in his pockets.

Derek takes six minutes, and in that time Stiles thinks he’s imagined everything. When Derek sees him alone and still waiting there, he smiles and Stiles’ heart stammers.

He’s got a jacket now, and he wraps it around Stiles’ body. Keys in hand he leads Stiles towards a white car that’s much less flash than the Camaro Stiles remembers.

“Where are we going?” Stiles says.

“My apartment,” Derek says quietly. “Do you have a phone?”

“It’s dead.”

Derek says nothing, but his fingers flex on the steering wheel. Stiles stares at him for the whole ride. When they get to the apartment Derek immediately leads Stiles towards the shower, giving him some dry clothes and a towel. They stare at each other just before Stiles closes the bathroom door.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Derek tells him.

Stiles nods.

The shower is hot and he takes a little bit too long. He’s tired and he’s not sure what’s happening, what any of this means. He tries not to have a panic attack. Stiles hasn’t had one ever since Derek left in the first place.

He steps out of the bathroom wearing clothes that are a little too big for him. Derek immediately hands him a warm drink.

“Thanks,” Stiles says.

Derek looks at him. “You’re so, you’re so beautiful.”

Stiles flushes hot with embarrassment. “What?”

Derek’s cheeks go red. “Sorry.”

Stiles huffs. “Glad to know there’s still someone on this planet who thinks I’m good looking. But I mean, look at you. You go to the gym a lot?”

Derek nods. “Yeah. A bit. Not as much as I used to.”  
  
They stare at each other. The only light in the room is coming from the kitchen, and everything looks soft. It’s a fucking miracle that Stiles is even here, that he even found Derek after so long. They can hear the rain falling outside.

Derek takes a shaky breath, and he sits at the edge of the couch. “Do you promise you didn’t try to find me?”

His voice is quiet and Stiles doesn’t know what to say. He thought that he’d be the one asking the questions, he thought he’d be the one getting angry and demanding to know why Derek’s family disappeared.

“I – I tried looking for you,” Stiles says, still standing. “But I didn’t fucking get anywhere. You were just gone. You were gone.” His eyes are stinging with tears.

“And today?” Derek whispers.

“I got lost,” Stiles says, knees feeling weak. “I was a few towns over for work, and now I’m here and I – I – _why did you go?_ ”

“I had to,” he says, eyes looking pleading. “I didn’t want to – I promise –”

“But you still could have _talked_ to me –”

Derek shakes his head. “No – you, I couldn’t. I wanted to, trust me, please. I’ll tell you why.”

Stiles turns his head to the side. He feels like yelling, feels like crying because all he knows is that they were in love and then Derek was gone.

_I will love you, always._

That was the only message Stiles received, and at the time it made him smile. Then it just made him feel terrible as the weeks, the months, the years passed and he realized Derek was never coming back to him.

Stiles takes a sip of his warm drink. It doesn’t do anything to calm him, and then he takes a seat on the couch, as far away from Derek as possible.

“Stiles,” Derek whispers.

His whole body is trembling. He doesn’t know if it was a good idea to come here.

Derek shuffles closer, his eyes look desperate and – and he looks so different. He’s older, more sure of himself, and in the bar he looked a little bit happy.

“I don’t get it,” Stiles says, voice flat. “We were dating since we were fifteen and then you were gone.”

“Do you remember the day we left?”

“It’s crystal fucking clear.”

Derek grimaces. “Laura and I –”

“Yeah,” Stiles says, snapping. “What is up with her? Why was she so cold?”

“She – let me explain, okay? Just promise you won’t leave here until I tell you everything,” he says, voice urgent, voice low. “It’s important, and I don’t want to scare you but we’re not safe. Not since the day I left Beacon Hills.”

Stiles stops. His words come out very small. “What do you mean?”

Derek takes a breath. “I was on the way to meet up with you, and I was with Laura, and we stopped to get gas. We saw – a woman – we saw her kill someone.”

Stiles stares at him.

“We were witnesses and they took us away to keep us safe,” he says. “Her name is Kate Argent and she’s a dangerous woman, she’s been involved with all sorts of crimes but this was the first time that she slipped up.”

“What – are, are you serious?”

Derek laughs bitterly. “Yes.”

Stiles’ heart feels like it’s beating way too hard.

“That case was linked to several others where she was involved, but they still don’t have enough evidence to put her away,” Derek says. “She’s covered her tracks up good, but Laura and I are the only people she didn’t account for.”

Stiles puts the cup down. His mind is fuzzy, working so slowly that he can’t take any of this in. He watches as Derek pushes his fingers across the couch, pushes them closer to where Stiles sits.

“They put my family into the witness protection program, Stiles,” he says. “They wouldn’t let me talk to you. It was too dangerous, and now I’ve been living in this town, in the middle of nowhere, hoping Kate Argent doesn’t find me and kill me.”

Stiles lets out a shaky breath. He lets himself look at Derek again, lets himself see his handsome face and just how beautiful he is. He wishes so badly that he didn’t have to lose him.

Derek sucks in a breath. He stutters and stumbles, until he finally forces the words out. “I never wanted to leave you, Stiles, but after tonight, and you go back home,” he says, “You can’t talk to me ever again.”

Stiles glares at him. “ _No_ ,” he says. “That’s not fair; I can’t just find you after six years and have you say that to _me_. No.”

Derek looks torn. “You can’t tell anyone that you saw me.”

Stiles closes his eyes. It’s all too much, hearing all this, hearing about murder and running away and danger. It’s all so complicated, and no wonder why Stiles could never find the Hale family. They all disappeared so well.

There’s an unsteady silence between them, as Stiles takes it all in. He refuses to believe he has to say goodbye to Derek after this, he doesn’t want to say goodbye.

Stiles doesn’t know if it’s better knowing. He thought he had moved on, but six years later with Derek in front of him, he’s a mess. His pulse is tripping over itself and all Stiles wants is to touch him.

“Are you okay?” Derek says quietly.

He shakes his head. “I just – I feel as if my heart is breaking all over again.”

“I know how you feel.”

Stiles meets his gaze. He’s still so fucking in love with Derek that it hurts.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “Stiles, leaving you was the last thing I wanted to do.”

Stiles looks at him, his fingers trembling, and it’s so unfair how attractive Derek is after so many years. He looks solid, firm, and Stiles wants to trace the line of his jaw. Stiles wants to touch him, wants to make sure that he’s real.

“Are you seeing anyone?” Derek finally asks.

“No,” Stiles says, confused.

“Good,” he breathes, and then Derek comes forward and kisses him.

Stiles makes a sound against his mouth, a pathetic whimper, and then he can’t hold himself back. He climbs into Derek’s lap, kissing him hard, and he doesn’t have all the answers but it feels so good to let go, to give in.

Derek isn’t gentle with him. His fingers press into Stiles’ hips, hard enough to bruise and he tugs at Stiles’ hair. Stiles gets so lost in it, like he’s drunk, like he’s dreaming, and it feels so different yet it’s the same.

There are years and years of longing between them, longing and waiting, and Stiles suddenly remembers that Derek told him they wouldn’t be able to see each other after tonight.

Stiles pulls back. His hands stay on Derek’s face.

“Sorry,” Derek says, his eyes glassy.

Stiles trembles, but he traces Derek’s lip with his thumb. “This isn’t a good idea.”

Derek chuckles. “No,” he says, but he leans forward, and this time he just brushes his lips against Stiles’.

Stiles shivers against him.

“Do I really have to leave?” Stiles whispers. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

Derek looks at him, eyes resigned. “At least we get a goodbye this time.”

“Those gifts, every year, for my birthday,” he says, remembering the online orders. “Those were from you. There was no sender.”

He smiles. “You got them?”

Stiles nods, and presses his face into Derek’s shoulder. It’s all too much to take in and he doesn’t know what to do. He feels Derek’s hands sliding up and down his back.

“Did you really see someone die?” Stiles asks, voice muffled.

“Yeah.”

“Were you scared?”

He pauses. “I think so.”

“Are you scared now?” Stiles asks, looking up.

Derek shrugs. “I – it’s been so long now,” he says. “I don’t know if she’s still going to come after us, but she might. She seems very thorough.”

“Kate Argent?” Stiles says slowly.

He nods.

“What did she look like?”

Derek sighs, his muscles tensing up underneath Stiles’ hands. “She had long blonde hair, wavy, and she was kind of beautiful until – until she,” he stops. “She laughed, afterwards.”

Stiles stills. “There was a woman – after you left. She kept on coming and talking to me, all the time, and she’d wait outside the school.”

Derek looks back at him, and Stiles feels sick. He’s not sure if it’s the same woman, but it might be. It might be.

“She’d ask about your family, about where you went and why you left.”

He begins to shake, knowing that he’s had someone so awful talk to him. And that person wants to kill Derek and his sister, wants to take them away and leave them for dead.

“It’s okay,” Derek whispers, pressing another kiss to his forehead. “It’s okay. Let’s not talk about her. Tell me about your life. Did you get into Berkeley? Did you do your criminology degree? How’s your father?”

Stiles wipes a tear from his eye that he didn’t know had fallen. “I got in,” he says. “It was lonely at first. I travel a lot now, and I feel like I’m just driving to places all the time, doing consultations. I’m good at it though.”

Derek smiles proudly. “Do you like it?”

Stiles nods. “Yeah. I do.”

“I’m a kindergarten teacher,” Derek says.

Stiles blinks, and laughs. “But – but you _always_ avoided kids.”

“They’re okay,” he says, shrugging. He wrinkles his nose. “Mostly.”

“And Laura?”

Derek frowns slightly. “She’s been working for a small publishing company, but she’s rather frustrated right now. They want to promote her, but she has to say no because her new job would have too much publicity associated with it.”

“Oh,” Stiles says, shuffling around, making himself more comfortable in Derek’s lap. Derek is still looking at him, his eyes that startling mix of blue, green, grey. It feels strange to fill Derek in on the past six years of his life, when he always assumed that Derek would be there for them.

They talk quietly to each other, and Derek slowly sweeps his hand along Stiles’ thighs.

“Derek,” he sighs. There is so much to say, but if Stiles has to leave in the morning then there is really no time at all.

Derek leans forward again. “Please,” he says, and Stiles knows that they shouldn’t give in to each other but he can’t help it. He nods.

Derek kisses him again, his lips warm and his arms a furnace. Stiles finds himself falling in love with the feel of Derek’s stubble over his skin, something different but so very thrilling. He remembers how tentative Derek used to be, before Stiles managed to push him over the edge with his touch, but now he’s eager.

He urges Stiles legs around his waist, and then he stands up, swaying.

Stiles yelps, and Derek grins shyly. “I don’t want to ever stop touching you,” he says.

Stiles leans down a drags his mouth over Derek’s throat. “Then don’t,” he says, and Derek quivers underneath him before he walks them to the bedroom.

He lays Stiles down on the unmade bed, and he gently runs his hand over Stiles’ torso. They were each other’s firsts, when they both turned eighteen, and it means so much now. Stiles knows that Derek never wanted to leave him.

Derek lifts up his shirt and places kisses to Stiles’ chest. He keeps his eyes open, because he wants to remember Derek like this, wants to remember him alive and beautiful. Stiles feels Derek’s fingers dip below his waistband.

Stiles shudders. He suddenly feels too much. “Derek – I – just kiss me,” he says. “I don’t think I can handle much more.”

Derek’s face sobers. He nods and comes up the bed, bracketing Stiles’ face with his arms. Their bodies press together and then they’re kissing again, kissing and kissing for what seems like hours.

They pull away from each other, breathing hard, still curled together. Derek’s lips look red, his eyes desperate, but Stiles knows that he’ll never be able to forget his love for Derek if they do more with each other now.

“Tell me about everyone,” Stiles whispers. “Your family, they all came here with you?”

Derek nods. “Yeah,” he says. “They were – we all were – upset at first, but we’re mostly happy now. Everyone had to get new jobs, and Cora has been doing college courses online. Dad works at the local library.”

Stiles lifts a hand, dragging his fingers over Derek’s cheek. “I’m glad they’re happy now,” he says. “Everyone at home…they’re the same. Lydia is brilliant, as always, and Scott is still working at the vet. He married a woman named Kira.”

Derek raises his eyebrows. “Really?”

Stiles smiles. “Yeah. I made an awesome best man.”

Derek grins softly, and they keep on talking to each other, kissing each other, until they’re falling asleep in each other’s arms.

∞

They wake to someone banging on the door, and Stiles opens his eyes, groaning. He stills when he remembers everything that happened last night, when he remembers that it is Derek lying next to him.

Derek slowly sits up next to him and he offers Stiles a tentative smile, even as they hear Laura’s voice coming through the door. He gets up and then Laura comes through, looking wild eyed and panicked, and a man follows her.

 She glares at Stiles.

“This is your fault,” she spits, tears in her eyes. Stiles sits up, confused.

Derek grits his teeth together. “Laura, what’s wrong?” he says. He turns to the man who followed her in. He’s wearing an official looking uniform. “Jacobs, why are you here?”

He folds his arms, looking at Stiles carefully. “We had a call from Chris Argent this morning. He says his sister left the house last night and that she was heading in this general direction.”

Laura turns towards her brother, hiding her face in his chest.

“That – that doesn’t mean anything,” he says.

Jacobs frowns. “We believe she has been tracking Mr. Stilinski’s car.”

Stiles blinks. “No, but it’s been _six_ years. Why would she do that?” They say nothing to him, and the quiet speaks for itself. Stiles feels his face drain of blood he knows what he’s done. He has lead Kate Argent directly to them.

He covers his face. “I’m so _sorry_ ,” he says, breathing hard. “I – I didn’t know.”

“We know, Stiles,” Derek says soothingly, still holding his sister. His eyes are hard.

Jacobs clears his throat. “We have some warning, thanks to Chris Argent, but we don’t have much time. We need to use this.”

Laura lifts her head. She looks shaken and scared. “H – how?” she stutters. “I don’t – I don’t want to die.”

Stiles feels his heart thumping in his chest. He doesn’t know what to do, but he listens as Jacobs tells them his plan.

∞

Less than an hour later, Derek’s apartment is fitted with hidden cameras. Across the room and throughout the street some of Jacobs’ men are hiding, waiting, and Laura and Derek are far, far away from here.

Stiles’ whole body is shaking. He has no idea what he’s gotten himself into. Derek had kissed him once more before he left.

He walks back to the bar, slowly, and finds his car. He swears he catches a flash of blonde hair in the window of a nearby shop, and he hopes desperately that it’s not her.

He drives to Derek’s apartment and tries not to notice the way another car follows him down the road. She isn’t being all too subtle, but maybe she just thinks that Stiles is an idiot, leading her here, leading her to her mark.

Stiles doesn’t know where the cameras are. He sees a random guy next door, weeding the garden, and Stiles thinks that he is a part of Jacobs’ team.

Once he is inside again, locking the door, feeling sweat at his neck, he doesn’t have to wait long. Stiles tries not to shake as he hears footsteps and then the sound of someone unpicking the lock from the other side.

He is supposed to act shocked. He is supposed to act scared. It’s not fucking hard, when he knows that it’s a murderer who is stepping through the door. Her smile is wide.

“Fuck,” Stiles says, staring right at her.

Kate Argent twists her lip. “Stiles,” she says brightly.

Stiles takes a step backwards, and then he’s right against the wall. He looks to the side for his phone – now charged – but she’s too quick for him. She lifts her gun. Stiles immediately raises his hands.

“Good,” she says, closing the door behind her. “Be a darling and pick up that phone for me – slowly – and pass it to me.”

Stiles bites his tongue. He wants to yell at her, mouth off at her, but she has a gun in her hand. Fingers trembling, he gives her the phone.

“I see that your friend Derek has told you all about me,” she says, stepping closer.

“You’re fucking evil,” he says, and she just laughs.

“It is nice to meet you properly,” Kate says. “I feel like I know you so well already.”

Stiles blinks. “What do you mean?” he says, glaring.

“Hmm,” she says. “You and that boy were always together, and I knew that if I were to find that family again it would be through you. How is your father?”

“You leave him alone or I will –”

She grins. “Trying to threaten me?”

Stiles stops, eyeing her gun.

“I know every single little thing that you have done over the past six years,” she says, lip curling, and Stiles feels his stomach drop. “I know every single phone call that you have ever had. I know about every single birthday gift that Derek sent you. I know about when you caught your girlfriend cheating on you. It was very entertaining, I must say.”

Stiles stops, and he feels like he is going to throw up. He feels strangely violated, now that he knows this woman has been stalking him for his whole life.

Kate sneers. “And now you’ve finally done your job,” she says.

“Don’t kill him,” Stiles says, pleading. His stomach drops when she comes closer, pressing the gun against his cheek.

“You’ll be the one that kills him,” she says. “Because you’re going to ring him up, and you’re going to ask him to come home.”

Stiles shakes his head. “No,” he says. “No. He did _nothing_ to you!”

Kate snarls. “Do as I say or I will go back to Beacon Hills and your father will have a nice surprise waiting for him after I have finished up here.”

He trembles, and even though he knows that they’re setting her up for failure, her threats are working. He can’t let his father get hurt.

Stiles shakes his head and she slaps him across the face with her gun. He falls to the floor and clutches his face. They told him not to look too eager. They told him that he has to make sure that she doesn’t suspect anything.

Stiles has to get her to confess to the crime. If she confesses, then they can arrest her, can arrest her for all the crimes linked to the one Derek witnessed.

Kate kicks him in the ribs.

“Fine,” he says, yelling. “Don’t – don’t hurt me.”

She grins. “I knew you were weak,” she says, and she gets him to unlock the phone. Kate tells him exactly what to say and Stiles trembles when they hear the phone ringing.

Then they hear Derek’s voice. “Stiles?” he says.

Stiles swallows. He opens his mouth, and he knows that Derek is supposed to be safe, but it all feels very real. It feels like he is about to lead Derek to his death.

“Hey,” he says, eyeing the gun. Kate stays eerily quiet. “Can you come over?”

“You know I have to work,” Derek says, voice thick.

“Please,” Stiles says. “I – I’ve managed to flood the bathroom. I’m not sure what to do.”

He hears Derek sigh, exasperated. “Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

“Derek,” Stiles says, voice a little wild. Kate presses the gun against his forehead and he gulps. “I miss you. Hurry home.”

The phone goes dead, and Kate smiles widely at him. “Very good, Stiles. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Don’t kill them,” Stiles blurts out. “You don’t need to.”

“I do,” she says. “And after this, I need to kill you too.”

Stiles shudders again. “But – ”

She hums, stops him from talking. “The question is, do I draw it out for you? Do I get you all sweaty, nervous, or do I leave Derek to find you dead?”

Stiles’ head is ringing, still sore from when she hit him. He knows he has to get her to confess, but he can barely think. It’s too hard. He had hardly any time to prepare for this.

“But why?” he says, voice hurried. “Surely you don’t – you don’t need to. If you do, the cops will find you. My father will find you.”

“Your threats are very charming,” Kate tells him.

Stiles glares. “And you’re fucking crazy,” he says. “All he did was witness a crime. That’s all. It’s not worth it.” He’s breathing hard, knowing that she hasn’t confessed yet. Stiles doesn’t know how long it will take.

“You’re an idiot,” Kate says.

Stiles spits at her and her nostrils flare. She hits him again, and Stiles groans, clutching his ribs. He knows that Derek can probably see him, can probably see her hurting him through the cameras.

Stiles needs Derek to be safe. He knows he can make Derek safe; all he has to do is make her confess.

“Don’t kill him,” Stiles says again, stilling fucking terrified. “Don’t kill me – you don’t need to. I’m sure it was nothing. I’m sure it could have been any blonde lady that he saw. It was nothing.”

“Do you know who I am?” Kate says. “I haven’t just done _nothing_ with my life. I have done things that your little brain can’t even think of. I have done way worse things than kill that man, six years ago. I just didn’t know that when I killed him, your fucking boyfriend and his sister was watching. I have to take care of them, and when I’ve done that, I need to take care of you.”

Stiles sucks in a breath. He thinks, hopes, that her words are enough.

A few moments later there is someone at the door. Kate grins, thinking that it’s Derek. But the door opens, and it’s a man in wearing full on combat gear, a gun in his hands. Stiles sees the expression on Kate’s face flicker, he sees the moment she knows she’s been played, and she still has enough time to swing her fist once more.

Everything goes black.

∞

He wakes to someone holding his hand, their fingers tracing patterns on his skin. He is in a hospital and his whole body hurts. Stiles groans.

“Stiles?” Derek whispers, sitting up properly.

His eyes flicker open. “Is she – is she gone?”

Derek nods, smiling slightly, tears in his eyes. “She’s gone,” he says. “Thank you.” He comes up and presses a kiss to Stiles’ forehead.

Stiles shakes. He still doesn’t know how to feel about everything. He feels sick knowing that Kate Argent has been stalking him for the past six years.

“Do I still have to say goodbye to you?” Stiles says, voice breaking.

Derek smiles. “No,” he says. “No.”

“Will you come back home?” Stiles asks, reaching for Derek’s hand. Their fingers twist together.

Derek falters, and Stiles looks away.

“Hey,” Derek says. “I – I still love you, I never stopped loving you, Stiles. It will all work out. We’ll be together, somehow, I promise.”

Stiles stares up at him. “I love you too,” he says.

Derek looks down, pleased, his cheeks a nice pink. “I want to go back home,” Derek says, voice low. “But I don’t think Laura does – and, and we have to figure it out. But I am never leaving you, not again.”

Stiles lets himself grin, his heart flopping in his chest. He feels more alive than he has ever done, and even though his body is so exhausted he knows that he will have Derek forever. He knows that he will never let Derek go again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading <3 I hope you don't mind me posting some of my tumblr fics. This one was fun to write.
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr.](https://matildajones.tumblr.com)


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